I think the transition is jarring for many people and while ultimately I think physical buttons are often better, I am the type that will gladly accept a little degradation in favor of progress and minimalism. I also think there's an extremely vocal minority that feels like no-buttons is backwards progress.

Note, this is not an excuse or justification for touchscreen-only interfaces, but my personal feelings towards the matter.

I have two Teslas and I have never found the touchscreen to be a problem when the "automatic" setting is GOOD. For example, I almost never touch the AC. I set it to the temperature I like and it keeps me comfortable during the entire ride.

However, when things like the automatic windshield wipers are bad (and they constantly fluctuate between disastrous and good enough between software updates), I get really frustrated because I have to tinker with the bullshit screen too much.

Personally, I think the end game is minimalist physical buttons (some multipurpose) + software that is actually good enough to not interact with the touchscreen very often. Most companies that aren't Tesla really struggle on the latter portion.4

After having these 2 cars for a couple of years, I find most cars extremely cluttered and almost claustrophobic. I really like how clean and simple the Tesla interior is. I hope we don't overcorrect back into the 2010s and even 80s style of "put a button right in front for EVERYTHING." But I do think there's a ton of room for healthy middle ground.